The George Benson Collection
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Album Summary
The George Benson Collection is a 1981 double-album compilation released on Warner Bros. Records, and honey, this one was put together with love and purpose. Drawing from Benson's extraordinarily fertile run with the label through the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, this collection stands as a monument to what happens when jazz guitar genius meets soulful, warm-blooded vocal artistry. The guiding hand behind much of this music was producer Tommy LiPuma, whose silky, sophisticated production touch gave Benson that unmistakable crossover sheen — polished enough for pop radio, deep enough to satisfy the jazz faithful. Released at the absolute height of Benson's commercial powers, the album was assembled to capture lightning in a bottle, bringing together the recordings that had made George Benson one of the most beloved and best-selling artists of his era, serving both the longtime jazz devotees who had followed him for years and the vast new audience he had earned through sheer brilliance and charm.
Reception
- The compilation rode Benson's enormous commercial momentum straight onto the charts, performing strongly in a marketplace that was hungry for exactly this kind of artistically credible, broadly accessible music from one of the era's most decorated crossover stars.
- Critics greeted the collection warmly, celebrating it as a masterfully assembled showcase of Benson's rare dual gifts — the fleet-fingered guitar virtuosity and the honeyed, expressive vocals — though some jazz purists felt the selection tilted toward his more pop-leaning recordings at the expense of his deeper instrumental work.
- As the early 1980s compilation market began to boom, The George Benson Collection stood out as one of the more coherent and genuinely satisfying entries in the format, earning its reputation as an ideal entry point into Benson's landmark Warner Bros. catalog.
Significance
- The George Benson Collection cemented George Benson's standing as one of the true architects of the jazz-pop crossover movement, offering undeniable proof that a jazz musician of the highest instrumental order could achieve sustained, massive mainstream success while keeping his artistic soul intact.
- By pulling together recordings that had already made serious noise on pop, R&B, and jazz charts alike — from the smoky Latin swing of 'Cast Your Fate To The Wind' to the transcendent beauty of 'Breezin'' and the pop perfection of 'Give Me The Night' — the album painted a portrait of a complete artist whose range was nothing short of extraordinary.
- The release helped solidify Benson's role as a defining figure in what would become smooth jazz and contemporary R&B-jazz fusion, genres that would shape the sound of adult contemporary radio throughout the 1980s and whose roots run directly through the grooves of this very collection.
Samples
- This Masquerade" — one of Benson's most celebrated recordings, it has attracted the attention of samplers drawn to its lush orchestration and soulful melodic warmth, appearing in various hip-hop and R&B productions over the years.
- The Greatest Love Of All" — originally recorded by Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biographical film, this recording has been referenced and interpolated across genres, predating and influencing the far more commercially ubiquitous Whitney Houston version that followed.
- Breezin'" — the silky instrumental title track from Benson's landmark 1976 album, its appearance here carries a sampling legacy rooted in its smooth, looping guitar lines that producers in hip-hop and neo-soul found irresistible across multiple decades.
Tracklist
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A1 Turn Your Love Around 103
3:49
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A2 Love All The Hurt Away 129
4:08
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A3 Give Me The Night 112
3:42
-
A4 Cast Your Fate To The Wind 116
6:58
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B1 Never Give Up On A Good Thing 113
4:04
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B2 On Broadway —
5:14
-
B3 White Rabbit —
6:57
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B4 This Masquerade 89
3:17
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C1 Love Ballad 112
4:15
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C2 Nature Boy 91
4:17
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C3 Last Train To Clarksville 88
5:00
-
C4 Livin' Inside Your Love 87
6:38
-
D1 Here Comes The Sun —
2:32
-
D2 Breezin' 81
5:39
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D3 Moody's Mood 61
3:25
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D4 We Got The Love —
3:26
-
D5 The Greatest Love Of All 113
5:33
Artist Details
George Benson is a silky-smooth guitarist and vocalist out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who came up through the jazz trenches in the 1960s before blowing the roof off the mainstream in 1976 with his landmark album Breezin, a record so gorgeous it crossed every boundary between jazz, soul, and pop and made the whole world sit down and listen. That album went platinum and made Benson the first jazz artist to have a number one R&B and pop album simultaneously, proving that serious musicianship and commercial appeal could walk hand in hand without either one losing its dignity. His velvet voice and dazzling fretwork built a bridge between the jazz elite and everyday music lovers, cementing his legacy as one of the most complete and beloved artists of his generation.
